The Bridge that is Still Crossed
by ArtificialRangerLiuria
Summary: That bridge is still beaten down by those unwilling to cross it, as it is repaired by those on the other side. Atom continues his school career into high school where he meets a girl who separates herself from others. Much like himself... NO ATOMXOC


**Woot, aTetsuwan Atom story! I decided to finally start writing this after raging at a story including a disgustingly politically-correct emo-whore OC and the English dub of 2003. Since the description is specific enough for those who've read it to know what I'm talking about, I apologize for my raging. The rushed nekkid scene was just… a complete force. YO. Anyways, there will be NO ATOMXOC ZOMGZOMG DAYSOOOOO in this, so don't worry about all that annoying Mary-Sue shit. And Roxanne/Brianna will make an appearance… somewhere… even though she's a whore who should die and Nuka/Nikki will always be better. This story may come out a little random, due to my obsession with Atom leading me to find a reference to him in absolutely EVERYTHING (politics, biology, etc.), causing me to want to explore an entire spectrum of topics left mostly untouched in the series thus far. I'm damn excited! Oh yeah, pay no attention to my boring opening. **

Atom decided to finish his schooling with the other children in his technical age group. Tamao, Kenichi and Shibugaki had reassured him that they'd always be his friends, so he wanted to stay with them for as long as possible.

His first year of high school was going well enough. Atom was pleased with the growing number of robot children being transferred to Metro City schools. Humans were becoming more and more open to the idea of robots being sentient and _alive_, just like them. And, as always, there remained humans who insisted on shunning any such ideas.

About a month into the school year, Atom was settling into his workshop class. He and Tamao shared the period, which was one of the only times they saw each other during the school day, so they cherished it.

The class had been assigned a short group project to create a blueprint for a lockbox. Atom and Tamao were mapping out their design when the teacher walked out, causing about half the class to drop their pencils and socialize.

Another first-year walked over to Atom. "Hey, robot, why do _you _get to take a class like this?" He jeered. Atom said nothing and stared at his classmate with silent defiance. "And why not?" Tamao quickly retorted.

"Aw, shut up, specs!" The boy chuckled, proceeding to rip Tamao's glasses off and wave them around in the air. "H-hey, gimme my glasses! I can't see without them!" Tamao protested, tripping over the leg of the table he was working at and falling face-first on the floor. Atom ran to Tamao, and crouched to help him up. "Stop it! Give him back his glasses!" He yelled.

"Can it, robot!" The boy snorted and kicked Atom down. Some of the other boys gathered around and spat nasty remarks at the robot boy.

"Hey, Suzuki, quit arguing with the robot and get back to work," a rolled up stack of papers came down on the boy's head hard enough to make him flinch. He turned to see a girl with large classes and pixie-cut brown hair staring at him angrily.

"H-hey, stay out of this, woman! This is between me and the robot!" Suzuki pointed at Atom, whose attempts to stand were thwarted by strikes from other students.

The girl grumbled, and slid on a leather glove after digging it out of her pocket. She then proceeded to punch Suzuki in the face, sending him to the floor.

"Yo, asshole! What age do you live in? I'm no woman, I'm a kid, just like you! So learn your place and quit terrorizing the robot! Or do I have to beat the meaning of 'equal rights' into you?"

Suzuki stared at the girl in fear, and his eyes welled with angry tears. The other students stared with uncertainty. The girl turned to the boys who were terrorizing Atom. "What are you waiting for? Move it!" With that, the students, including Suzuki, scrambled back to their stations.

The girl picked up Tamao's glasses, which had landed on the floor, and handed them to him. As he and Atom stood up, the girl went back to her station silently, and an eccentric blonde proceeded to engage her in a conversation. The two boys stepped back into place at their table, and continued staring at the strange bespectacled girl.

"Who's that?" Atom asked after a while.

"That's Takahara Fumio, a first year like us. I hear she's trouble. Some say she's quiet and responsible, and others say she's antisocial and insensitive." Tamao answered, he himself unsure of what to think of her.

"Fumio…" Atom repeated, wondering what kind of person she was; wondering if she was another human who would significantly impact his life.

That afternoon, the school grounds were full of children bustling about; some heading home, some conversing with friends, and others planning to do delinquent things. Atom hurried out, hoping he'd run into Fumio. Up ahead, he saw her walking slowly while tinkering with her cell phone. "Ah, Fumio!"

She heard Atom, but kept walking, a little annoyed at his lack of respect. He eventually caught up to her, and she was forced to acknowledge him. "Fumio, thank you for earlier. Me 'n Tama-chan really appreciated it." He said, as she noticed his slightly strange school uniform. _"Wow, they let him wear shorts."_

"I'm Atom. Nice to meet you!" Fumio finally looked Atom in the eyes. "Uh, yeah… you're welcome…" She answered unenthusiastically and looked away. _"Those perverted school officials probably just want to exploit his youthful appearence." _Atom stared at her and wondered if he'd made her mad. "Oh… I'm sorry, I mean, if I got you in trouble…"

Fumio looked back at him. "Oh, uh, what? No, no, I was waiting to give that guy a piece of my mind since September. You shouldn't worry about him. People like that feed off of making others miserable, so it's best if you just ignore them." She assured with a smirk.

"…But why do people have to be so mean?" Atom asked. Sometimes, he just couldn't understand humans and their attraction to hatred and chaos.

"…Who knows?" Fumio stated plainly. Atom looked down and sighed. "…Well, I've gotta go find my friends now! See you tomorrow, Fumio!" He yelled to Fumio as he ran off in the opposite direction.

"…I have a feeling becoming friends with him is going to be awkward…" Fumio mused as she turned a corner and left the school grounds.

The next day in workshop, while the students were conversing before the bell, Atom noticed that Fumio was talking with her blonde friend.

"…Ugh, when will they get all that executive crap outta the way? My bones are aching, I want gym class already…" Fumio complained while slouching over her table. "You know, you could always exercise on your own," Her friend suggested with a smirk.

"Come on, Keke, you know I'm way too lazy for that…" Fumio continued to pout.

Atom turned to Tamao. "Gym class? Tama-chan, why don't we have gym class?"

Tamao was hastily finishing his homework from the previous period, and spoke while scribbling down his answers. "Hmm, I think that's because something bad happened in one of the gym classes last year, so now the school needs to take care of some executive stuff before they can start the program up again. We should be assigned gym classes by next term,"

"Oh, I see…" Atom said as the door was slammed open. Suzuki stomped into the classroom with a bandaged cheek, and a handful of his buddies crowding around him in an attempt to be intimidating. They stopped in front of Fumio's table. "Feh, Takahara…" he grumbled.

"What do you want, Suzuki? Get outta my face," she waved him off and turned back to Keke, who was holding back laughter at the knowledge of how Fumio got when she was mad. Suzuki slammed his hands on her desk. "I'm not gonna let some chick talk to me like that! You're lucky I don't tell the teacher on you!"

"That's just your own ego overshadowing what little common sense you have…" Fumio mumbled.

Suzuki didn't seem to notice her comment. "Meet me at West Park this afternoon at three! We can, heheh, _negotiate _then…" He eyed his friends, and they all chuckled.

"No."

"Oh, you scared? The great freak Takahara, backing down from a fight!" He raised his head so the entire class could hear.

"Uh, yeah, whatever floats your boat…"

Suzuki pulled back in disbelief, and walked away. Some of his friends kicked Fumio's table and threw her papers onto the floor. She silently crouched down to pick them up, while Keke came down to help her.

"Wow, those jerks, _they're _definitely not getting any before age 40…" She smiled in an attempt to cheer Fumio up. She noted the boys calling her a freak.

The teacher walked in moments later, and class began.

Throughout the hour, Atom could tell Fumio was having trouble concentrating on her work. He tried to find an opening, but by the time class had ended, he hadn't gotten a chance to speak with her. He refused to wait until the next day to talk to her.

Fumio shut her door on the racket of her younger sister arguing with her mother after dinner. She plopped down on the bed with her face in the comforter and mumbled a curse through through the fibers.

She stood back up and proceeded to undress. After taking off her skirt and stalkings, she unraveled her necktie and slid out of her shirt. After causing her glasses to fall off, she picked them up and turned towards her desk, while tripping on the edge of her bed. She fell back and hit the tip of her scalp on the wall, but didn't get up. Fumio gradually fell asleep…

*_tap* *tap* *tap*_

Fumio's eyes snapped open, and drooped back down. "…Stupid tree branch…" She mumbled while staring at the shadows stretching across the ceiling from light slicing through her curtains and invading her space. "Wait a minute… there are no trees in my part of the yard…"

_*tap* *tap* *tap*_

Fumio sat up and stared at the closed curtains. "I'm on the second story… who would be—oh no…" She slowly stepped over to the window as her knees cracked from fatigue and bad sleeping position. She tore the curtains to either side of the wall and uncovered Atom hovering in front of her window.

"Hi, Fumio-chan!"

"You gotta be kidding me…"

Atom giggled and tilted his head in the most disgustingly adorable way.

Fumio slid her window open, careful not to make too much noise. "What are you doing here?" She demanded quietly.

"I thought we could talk!" Atom answered with a smile.

"Are you serious?" Fumio stared at the boy with an "Aw-Hell-Naw" expression that was hard for him to read. After seeing that Atom didn't get the message, and after her nice side backed her mean side into a corner with a hatchet, she sighed. "Fine… sit down." Fumio slid herself up onto her window seat as Atom did the same facing the opposite direction.

"So… you followed me home, huh?" She asked, anticipating Atom's confirmation to the so-like-him action. "Yes… I wasn't sure where you lived." He answered, oblivious to the severity of his offence in Fumio's world. "Well, stalking's a crime. Did you know that?" She asked with a cocked brow. Atom tensed with embarrassment. "Uhm! I, uh, I'm sorry…"

Fumio stared for a second and then smiled. "I'm just messing with you." She chuckled. Atom seemed surprised, and then a grin stretched across his face. He began to laugh. "Wh-what?" Fumio asked defensively.

"Fumio-chan, you smiled at me!" Atom lowered his chin and stared upward at his friend. Fumio hesitated with an answer as Atom continued laughing happily.

"So," Atom jerked forward so that he was almost inside Fumio's room. "What's your birthday, your favorite color and your favorite food?" He asked enthusiastically. Fumio almost laughed at the juvenile question, but she didn't want to hurt Atom's feelings. "Uhm… Birthday? That's April 27th, and… I guess I don't really have a favorite color." She pondered her preferences, now interested herself.

"April? Ah, me too!" Atom exclaimed. "We should celebrate it together!"

"Uh… yeah… So, Atom, do you have a favorite color?" Fumio succumbed to her juvenile interest. "A favorite color? Mm… I don't really have a preference, but I like bright colors!" Atom explained happily. Fumio smiled slightly at his childlike qualities.

"So now, your favorite food! What is it?" Atom asked. "Can I ask why you need my favorite food?" Fumio asked defensively, as if the information was top secret.

"I always like to know my friends' favorite foods! I like cooking a great deal," Atom answered.

"You _cook _for your friends?" Fumio thought that the revolutionary robot-boy Atom cooking food for his _guy _friends seemed a little… off.

"Sure!" He answered, unfazed by her question. "So tell me! Ochanomizu-hakase says my cooking's really good, and the others always like it."

Fumio tilted her head and stared at him with a mixed expression. "Well… I like pork and rice. With broth." She spat out awkwardly.

"Pork and rice with broth? That sounds funny!" Atom chuckled.

"You can't laugh! It's good!" Fumio insisted. "Hehe, alright." Atom ceased his giggling as not to offend the girl. The two children continued talking late into the night...

**Well, there you have it! Wow, I got this chapter done quickly! In only about a week! That's fantastic! I really like the relationship I've been developing between Atom and Fumio… Anyway, I'd like to apologize for the slightly feminist incident in the first part. It… bothers me. But I suppose that someone with such old-fashioned views on robots would have similar views on other things. Also, I have no idea how the Japanese school system works (assuming that Metro City is the new name for Tokyo and the surrounding areas), so I'm going by the US system. And I'm thinking of having an "obligatory [insert name of event here]" episode, featuring Halloween instead of the beach or hot spring. I'm wondering if it's too soon… though Halloween didn't seem to come very soon this year (for me). Well, whatever, now I've got to get thinking about how I'll begin the next chapter! Review please! I'm always looking for critique!**


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